A Divided Heart is a Dangerous Heart
As I was preparing for this blog on Mark chapter 6, it reminded me of an interaction I had with my dog Misty, when I was a kid. I was opening the sliding door to let her in. She starts running towards me, then I see her make eye contact with her favorite toy that is lying in the yard. I know what she is thinking; “I’m going to grab this toy and I’m going to bring this toy inside with me.” At about that same moment I see her make eye contact with a stick that is lying on the other side to her left, and she is thinking in her little head, “No I’m going to bring this stick inside.” Then just as quickly she looks back at her toy. I watched as my dog ran back and forth looking at these two objects.
I am trying to get her to come inside, and the more I am urging her to get inside, the more frustrated she is getting. And her little brain is getting overloaded, and she is stuck, so I just shut the door. When she hears the door shut, she looks up and she comes running towards me. I open the door and she runs inside without either the toy or the stick.
This makes me think about the moments in my life where I had trouble making a decision. I could not make the call and all a sudden that opportunity was gone.
Today, I want to walk us through what happens when our affections are split between things and our affection for God. In our text we are going to get a glimpse of a struggle that is playing out in someone’s life. From this we remember that a divided heart is a dangerous heart.
Now we come to our text where Herod is struggling to figure out who this Jesus is. You must understand that there are many Herod’s in Bible. You have Herod the Great; this is the guy that was ruling when Jesus was born. Herod had four sons, and one of his sons was Aristobulus. Now Aristobulus and dad get in an argument, and dad ends up killing him. From this Caesar himself says that he would rather be a pig in the court Herod than one of his family members. Herod, being a Jew, would never have eaten bacon, but he has killed many of his relatives.
Before Aristobulus died, he had a daughter and her name was Herodias. Herodias falls in love with her uncle Phillip and they get married. Then get this, Herod Antipas, the Herod from our story, falls in love with his niece/sister-in-law, he seduces her, and then he marries her. That is messed up; it is not normal when your family tree starts going in circles. This is what we are dealing with. Once more, a divided heart is a dangerous heart.
What does it look like to have a heart that is divided? Remember that John is in Herod’s prison. Why was he there? Because he said that Herod’s marriage to Herodias was immoral!
This put John on Herodias’ hit list, but Herod protected John. Why would Herod protect a guy who was constantly saying to him “Dude, your marriage is sinful!” Herod loved to hear John talk; there was something about what John and what he was saying that resonated in Herod’s heart. He hears John speak he is sensing this conviction of the Holy Spirit. See there is a division in his heart; he is intrigued at the same time he is appalled. He is interested at the same time he is offended by what John is saying. He cannot decide, he is at this intersection in life, at a crossroads with truth; and he does not know what to do.
Herod’s birthday comes and he invites all the people who he wants to impress. But it is Herodias’ time to seize her opportunity. Herod’s heart has grown cold, and his conscience keeps eating at him every time he hears about Jesus; that’s why verse sixteen says, “When Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
Mark reveals that although Herod’s conscience is eating away at his heart, his opportunity is dying out. Herod eventually has this moment where he speaks with Jesus face-to-face in Luke 23. By then his heart had grown so cold and so hard, this is what it says in verse 8-9, “When Herod saw Jesus, he was pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see Him. From what he had heard about Jesus, he hoped to see Him perform some miracles. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.” Herod’s heart is now hard and God is completely silent. Let that moment sink in. People say, “I will listen to God when I want to.” But that is dangerous because someday you may become deaf to Jesus’ voice. Herod had his moment; he listened to John, again-and-again, but here his opportunity is over.
Friends, Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” There is a moment, there is an opportunity where your heart is sensitive. There is this moment where it begins to resonate with your heart, it is God drawing you in. If you do not respond, you can miss it. It is the same for all of us, each-and-every-one-of-us. We are either going to grow warmer-and-warmer towards God or grow colder and colder.
The Remedy of a Divided Heart. Mark does not leave us hanging, he gives us a remedy for the divided heart, but it is difficult. The remedy for a divided heart is that you are going to have to face your fear. Let us go back to Herod’s birthday party, he gives a party for all the people he wants to impress so badly. He is desperately afraid of looking like he has no control, and Herodias knows this. The daughter of Herodias danced, and she pleased everyone, and Herod told her that she could receive anything, even half of his kingdom. He does not even have a kingdom to give. Herodias jumps on this opportunity to ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter. Herod is exceedingly sorry; and his heart is divided, and in this moment Herod reveals who his god really is: it is his status.
He is more afraid of losing face with his friends, than of doing the right thing. A divided heart is dangerous. It says in Matthew 6:24, “That no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
You cannot serve God and your own ambition. You cannot serve God and the power that you seek. Herod was so afraid that he would not look like a king that he began to play the part of the slave; he is a slave to his own fear. Herod’s trying to gain this influence, this power, he is trying to go after ambitions but remember that “Whoever wants to save their live will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and forfeit their soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26)
Today if you want to know the remedy for a divided heart, it is simply laying your fear at the feet of Jesus and saying, “I don’t want this anymore.” You do not have to be a slave to that fear. What happens if you lose those things that you are afraid of losing? You have become a slave to this___________! (Whatever it is.) God wants you to know the freedom of placing your identity wholly and completely in who He is; God has something better for you. He wants you to know that your self-worth is determined by what He says that you are because that is who you are.
Friends, divided hearts are dangerous hearts. When our hearts are not divided, then our relationships are better. When our hearts are not divided, our families are healthier. When our hearts are not divided any longer, then we are able to hear what Christ is saying to us clearer-and-clearer. It is then easier for us to focus on His voice.
Till Next Week When We Meet at the P.E.W.
(Pastor’s Weekly Encouragement)
Pastor Joel